News

College awarded $2 million grant to improve services, instruction under
Title III

Jackson Community College will receive a grant of nearly $2 million over the next five years to improve access to education and student success under the Strengthening Institutions Program, Title III Part A of the Higher Education Act of 1965, U.S. Department of Education.

JCC has designed a comprehensive Title III project entitled Transforming Instruction and Student Services, designed to improve both services to students and classroom instruction. Title III, Part A is a program designed to help institutions of higher education to become sustainable and expand their capacity to serve low-income students by providing funds to improve and strengthen the academic quality, institutional management, and fiscal stability of eligible institutions.

"It's quite an extensive grant, and it's all about institutional sustainability; what seed money does the institution need to build programs, get equipment and build infrastructure that works toward future financial sustainability," said Charlotte Finnegan, dean of foundation studies and student support.

Grant monies will:

Strengthen Foundation Studies (developmental education to assist students not yet ready for collegiate-level academic work). It will assist in the implementation of different learning methods for the unprepared, giving faculty resources to learn the latest research and practices in developmental education and implement them at JCC.

Several activities are planned for each objective to help improve JCC's program and ultimately increase student success and persistence. Each year of the grant, a particular curriculum area will be in focus, such as math for the first year, and in the second year new steps will be implemented on that area. At the end of five years, the College is expected to have absorbed what is has learned over the grant period and continue with the improvements. An implementation group at JCC has been launched and work is underway on the effort.

“This grant will provide much needed resources for faculty and staff to be able to implement cutting-edge strategies designed to improve the success of academically underprepared students,” said Rebekah Woods, dean of arts and sciences at JCC. “At JCC we are committed to student success and continue to look for areas of improvement."